Spontaneously go on a skiing holiday – a great idea when it has just snowed. But especially during the school holidays, this is hardly possible. Families often commit themselves a whole year in advance because accommodation is scarce in the high season and affordable ones even more so.
A ski holiday is an expensive pleasure. In return, you wish for perfect days. But the central element – the snow – tends to be unpredictable. It was far too little at the beginning of the current season. But it shouldn’t be too much either. Can a skiing holiday be protected against unpredictable weather? Is there a chance to invoke lack of snow and cancel free of charge? The legal situation at a glance:
Accommodation
Most winter vacationers book individually: They reserve their accommodation via a hotel booking portal or directly with the accommodation. Even the most attentive host cannot conjure up snow. He doesn’t have to either: he is not responsible for a lack of snow. “The limited suitability of the environment with regard to the intended leisure activities does not represent a defect in the rented property,” says Paul Degott, a lawyer from Hanover who specializes in travel law. As long as the room can be reached and used, there is no legal basis for asking a lower price or canceling the booking free of charge.
Conversely, if access to the hotel is not possible because the road has been impassable since an avalanche, holidaymakers can cancel the hotel free of charge and get back the money they may have already paid for their accommodation. This rule does not apply if the journey is just a little more difficult because it is only possible by taking a detour. Even if the road is free again within three days and the journey is feasible, the rest of the holiday cannot simply be canceled free of charge.
Canceling the booking isn’t the problem – it’s just that fees are usually charged for this. They are often staggered: the closer the travel date, the more expensive it gets, up to the full room price.
Guests can only cancel at short notice without financial loss if this option is provided for in the contract conditions. Cancel free of charge a week in advance – it used to be unthinkable. But since the Corona pandemic, many guests are no longer so keen on making long-term commitments, and many hotels are reacting to this with generous conditions, especially outside of the well-booked main season. The search results can be filtered accordingly on online booking portals.
Otherwise, the only hope left is the goodwill of the host. Perhaps he will allow regular guests to convert the booking into a voucher for the coming year.
package holiday
As soon as vacationers book at least two services combined, one speaks of a package tour. This can be travel and accommodation, but also a package consisting of a hotel and a multi-day ski course, which makes up at least 25 percent of the total price.
Package holidaymakers are legally better protected: If the organizer does not fulfill what he has promised in the travel description, you can reclaim part of the travel price and possibly claim compensation for lost holiday enjoyment on top of that. But does this protection also apply when there is a thaw? Or when it’s so cold that you can only stand the slopes for an hour?
“This is a whim of nature and does not in itself represent a lack of travel,” says travel law expert Degott. From a legal point of view, a green slope is a “general life risk” for which nobody can be held responsible. “Even if there is a package tour, the tour operator is not liable for the lack of safe snow conditions necessary for skiing,” says Degott. Unless he has explicitly promised the winter wonderland: If the organizer has made certain promises about the travel destination in his catalog or on his website, if there is talk of “snow guarantee”, “snow security” or “snow adventures”, according to the lawyer, reduction claims for the There are travel days on which skiing was not possible.
ski course
The ski course for the children was booked weeks ago to ensure a place. But now you would actually rather do without because there is not enough snow, because it is too cold, because the little ones don’t feel like it anymore. It is worth taking a closer look at the terms and conditions of the ski school, because the conditions vary from provider to provider. Sometimes you can cancel the day before the course starts free of charge, while in other places part of the course fee is already due. And there are ski schools where no reimbursement is possible for group courses – unless the child has become ill with a certificate that can be proven. If the course has to be canceled by the ski school due to a lack of snow around the magic carpet, the money is usually refunded, but sometimes less a processing fee.
ski pass
More and more ski areas are working with dynamic prices: Those who order in advance get the ski pass cheaper than those who only buy it at the ticket office on the day of skiing. Even a day pass saves 20 to 30 euros. Even ski areas without dynamic price models now often have an online shop that saves you from queuing at the checkout and fiddling with banknotes and credit cards with cold, stiff fingers.
Is it risky to commit so early? As so often, the same applies here: first read the conditions, then buy. In most cases, the purchase of a ski pass cannot actually be reversed. But there are more consumer-friendly options as well. On the Arlberg, for example, ski passes purchased online can be returned up to 14 days after purchase if they have not yet been used. In the Zillertal you can do this without a time limit, as long as you have not used the pass. Cancellation insurance can be taken out when purchasing a “Ski amadé” pass. On the South Tyrolean Kronplatz, on the other hand, the purchase price for ski passes will “under no circumstances be refunded”, even if they were bought “before the start of the validity period” and are then not used.
There is no money back if only some of the lifts and gondolas are running due to storms and snowstorms or poor snow conditions. Skiing is an outdoor sport – weather is part of it.